1 The gospel ¹ of Messiah Jesus, God's son, begins²: 2 just as it stands written in the prophet Isaiah ³:

"Look! I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
one who will pave your way-
3 a voice of one crying out in the desert⁴ :
'Make ready the Lord's way,
lay straight His pathways!'",

4 so there appeared John, baptizing in the desert and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiving of sins. 5 And people would come out to him: all the area of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem ⁵, and they would be cleansed by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. 6 And what John wore was camel's-hair and a leather belt around his waist and what he ate was locusts and wild honey ⁶. 7 And this is what he was proclaiming: "There is coming after me the one who is mightier ⁷ than I am: I am not good enough to kneel down and untie his ⁸ sandals' thong."
8 What I have done is to wash you clean with water,⁹ but he will wash you clean with holy spirit.

9 And it was then ¹⁰ that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee¹¹ and let himself be baptized¹² in the Jordan by John. 10 And right away,¹³ as he came up out of the water, he saw¹⁴ the sky splitting apart¹⁵ and the spirit coming down onto him¹⁶ like a dove;¹⁷ 11 And a voice came out of the sky:¹⁸ "You are my beloved son; you are the one whom I have chosen."¹⁹

12 And right away the spirit impels²⁰ him into the desert.²¹ 13 And he stayed in the desert for forty days confronting ordeals²² put to him by Satan, and he stayed in the company of wild beasts and angels would tend to his needs.²³

14 And when John had been taken into custody, ²⁴ Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming God's good news; ²⁵ what he said was: "The world-age has come full term;²⁶ God's reign ²⁷ is now at hand; repent²⁸ and have faith through the gospel." ²⁹

16 And as he was walking beside the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting nets in the sea (they were fishermen). 17 And Jesus said to them, "Come here after me, ³⁰ and I'll turn you into fishers of human beings ³¹ 18 And right away they left their nets and followed him.³² 19 And when he'd gone on a bit, he saw James, Zebedee's son and his brother John-they were in the boat too, repairing fishnets, 20 and right away he summoned them. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired hands and went off after him.³³

21 And they enter Capernaum; and right away-on the Sabbath ³⁴ --he went into the synagogue and started teaching. 22 His teaching astounded people: it was presented with authority, not at all the way the scribes taught.³⁵ 23 And suddenly there in the synagogue was a man defiled in spirit; he cried out, 24 "What business have you with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I recognize you: you are the Holy One of God."³⁶ 25 And Jesus scolded him with the words, "Shut your mouth! Leave him!" 26 And the unwholesome spirit jerked him about and cried aloud and then left him.³⁷

27 And they were astounded, one and all: they were questioning each other, "What on earth is this? Unprecedented teaching that is authoritative! Not only that, but he gives orders to unwholesome spirits and they pay him heed.³⁸ 28 And news of him right away spread everywhere, all over the surrounding territory of Galilee.

29 And right away they left the synagogue and went into the house of Simon and Andrew, accompanied by James and John. 30 Simon's mother-in-was in bed with a fever and they told him about her. 31 When he came to her, he took her by the hand and lifted her up: the fever left her and she began to wait upon them.³⁹

32 In the evening when the sun had set, they kept bringing to him all who were ill and who were possessed. 33 and the whole town had gathered near the doorway. ⁴⁰ 34 And he healed many who were ill with various ailments and exorcised many demons. The demons, moreover, he would not let speak, for they knew his identity ⁴¹

35 And early in the morning well before dawn he rose and left the house and went into a deserted area, where he proceeded to pray. 3637 When they found him, they told him, "Everybody's looking for you." 38 He tells them, "Let's move on somewhere else into the nearby villages so that I can preach there: that, after all, is what I have come for." ⁴² Then Simon and the others of the group went looking for him.

39 And he went about preaching in their synagogues all throughout Galilee and exorcising demons. ⁴³ 40 And there came to him a leper begging to be purified; he said, "if you consent to it, you are able to cleanse me." 41 And as his compassion was stirred he put out his hand and touched him and said to him, "I am willing, now be cleansed!" 42 And right away the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43  And immediately he sent him away with harsh words, 44 telling him, "Be careful to tell nobody anything, but go and present yourself to the priest and for evidence, offer up what Moses ordained as an offering for your cleansing. 45 But he went out and started broadcasting the news and bruiting the story about, and as a result, Jesus couldn't go into the city in plain view any more, but he stayed outside of it in deserted areas, and people would come to him from all over.

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